Naruto: Path of the Ninja Hands-on

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We take Naruto's first DS RPG for a spin.

By Bozon

With every console iteration of Naruto: Clash of Ninja released the Nintendo DS has been getting its own Naruto experience as well. Traditionally these games came from Japan, having just a brief stint in localization before being dropped onto the shelves, and while each of the games is fairly entertaining in its own right, there hasn't been a ton to them. Apparently someone over in Japan felt the same way, as the most recent Naruto isn't a fighter or action/adventure game, but rather a full-fledged RPG.

We've had just a very brief amount of time with the game so far, but we can give you our initial impressions jus the same. Naruto: Path of the Ninja takes the same art style as previous Naruto titles, but builds a whole new experience for fans of the show to get behind. Path of the Ninja follows the beginning of the Naruto storyline, as Naruto, Sakura, and Sasuke meet up with Kakashi for the first time and begin their training. From there players will lead the team of ninjas through the opening of the show, oftentimes working directly within the main story, and sometimes taking a parallel route to what the anime offers.

Since the game is a traditional RPG, you'll notice a few staples of the genre popping up. Players accumulate a group of fighters, and will need to manage health and equipment of each as they traverse the lands. As expected random battles will ambush the fighters whenever not in a town or friendly area, and the team will need to dispatch them in turn-based fashion, gaining items, cash, and equipment for their efforts.

As a bit of a change from the Japanese version, Path of Ninja fully supports touch control, so players can either use the classic d-pad/button configuration or swap on the fly at any time to stylus for character control, battle selections, inventory management, and the like. The game makes use of the same core product as its original GBA release in Japan, but has been completely overhauled in the interface, presentation, and control departments, as it now looks and plays like the Japanese DS sequels.

We've yet to dive too far into the adventure, but already we can tell you that Naruto makes solid use of effects animations and huge panels of character art just like its predecessors, includes a ton of VO during battle, interface, and key story sections, but still feels very straightforward as a pocket RPG. Perhaps it'll show some legs as we level up our team, develop our magic, and dive deeper into the world of Path of Ninja.

We'll have more on Naruto: Path of the Ninja as we draw near to its October 23 release date. To see the game in action be sure to check out our exclusive screens in the media section below.